Read about our Green Hondas in below articles:
Green Car Upgrades
Tricks to make your car greener and save some dough.
By Jacob Gordon of TreeHugger
Biodiesel, created from vegetable oils including canola, is often blended with petroleum diesel at the pump, and can be burned in any diesel engine.
1. Easy on the Throttle
The single most important technique to make your existing car more efficient is speed, or lack thereof. In the city, avoid jackrabbit starts and lead-footed stops — this kills your fuel economy as well as your brakes. On the highway wind resistance is your enemy, and the faster you go the tougher the battle. When Consumer Reports researchers increased the speed of a 4-cylinder test car from 55 to 65 mph, the average highway fuel economy dropped from 40 mpg to 35.
2. Trading Pounds for Gallons
Lighter cars get better fuel economy. But before trying to cut your car’s weight and drag by tearing out upholstery and knocking off side mirrors, do the easy stuff first. Jettison the sandbags, golf clubs, and phonebooks from the trunk (better keep that spare, though). An unused roof rack also creates unnecessary drag. Also, don’t waste your gas dollars driving to stores that are closed, or getting lost on the way. Map out routes beforehand, call ahead or check hours online, use a GPS system, or combine trips to drive fewer total miles.
3. Sun Block
Smart solutions are sometimes the simplest. Sun reflectors will keep cabin temperature down while the car is parked, easing the load on the AC when you return. Lower temperatures will soften the sting on your wallet as well as on the sensitive flesh next to it. Research has also found that extreme summer heat can cause more air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds to be released from upholstery, plastics and other components, so reflecting the sun can be good for your health, too.
4. Better Breathing
Spending a minute on cabin air quality can save gas and protect your lungs from airborne gunk. Interior cabin air filters — which remove particles pumped in by your car’s ventilation system — clog over time, removing fewer particles and cutting into your overall MPG by reducing the efficiency of the air conditioner. Most automakers suggest replacement every 15,000 miles.
5. Tune -Up
A clean-running engine will not only use less fuel, but will pump fewer emissions out the tailpipe. Take your car for its regular maintenance and oil changes. High-quality synthetic oil of the right grade can prolong the life of an engine and help it get better fuel economy as well. Rotating tires at designated intervals will keep them wearing evenly and lasting longer.
6. High-MPG Tires
Another no-brainer is tire inflation: Keeping your car’s tires at the maximum recommended pressure (printed in the owner’s manual) will help maintain your optimal MPG and tire life. According to Consumer Reports, a tire’s rolling resistance “can add or detract an additional one or two miles per gallon,” which adds up over time. You may also want to investigate replacement tires that claim low rolling resistance and high fuel economy, such as Michelin’s Energy MXV4 and Continental’s ContiPremierContact.
2010 Honda Insight Unveiled
Honda today revealed a “concept” version of its 2010 Insight hybrid. Prototypes of the Prius-fighter were spied multiple times over the summer undergoing testing, so this thinly-veiled concept can best be thought of as a production preview. The car will be on display at the Paris International Auto Show next month..
“The original Honda Insight pioneered hybrid technology in the U.S. and remains a symbol of Honda’s commitment to innovative technology and fuel efficiency,” said Takeo Fukui, Honda CEO. “This new Insight will break new ground as an affordable hybrid within the reach of customers who want great fuel economy and great value.”
Priced below the Honda Civic, this Japanese-built hybrid will carry over much of the hatchback styling from the FCX.
In addition to recycling the Insight name, Honda will equip the new hybrid with the same 1.3-liter Integrated Motor Assist system found in the current-generation Honda Civic Hybrid. However, further development of the system will cut the IMA’s cost by about 50 percent in the new hybrid.
Although the new Insight will be loosely based on the Fit, it will measure in at 3 inches longer and 1 inch wider than the Fit.
One Honda insider told Edmunds the Insight’s fuel economy would be “insane,” with some Japanese sources predicting mileage as high as 71 mpg. Actual mileage will likely be lower when it hits our shores, but should still be impressive.
And if those lofty fuel-economy numbers weren’t enough to cause an instant waiting list for the new hybrid, the next-generation Insight will list from under $18,500 – undercutting the Toyota Prius by thousands of dollars.
The new Insight is expected to debut at the Paris Motor Show, but Honda could also wait until November’s Los Angeles Auto Show. Whatever the case, the new five-door hybrid will hit U.S. Honda dealers next April.
Honda hopes to build 200,000 units annually, with half of that production to be sold in the United States.
From LeftLaneNews.com
Honda revealed the name and the first official images of its new small hybrid vehicle today. The car will revive the name of the first hybrid gas-electric car introduced in the United States: the Honda Insight.
"The original Honda Insight pioneered hybrid technology in the US and remains a symbol of Honda's commitment to innovative technology and fuel efficiency," said Takeo Fukui, Honda CEO. "This new Insight will break new ground as an affordable hybrid within the reach of customers who want great fuel economy and great value."
In September 2006, Honda stopped making the Honda Insight, a teardrop-shaped two-seater—widely perceived as impractical by consumers. Despite real-world fuel economy approaching 70 miles per gallon, the company sold fewer than 2,000 Insights in 2005, and fewer than 1,000 units through September of 2006.
The new Honda Insight, which goes on sale in the US in April, is expected to sell in relatively high quantities. Honda is targeting annual global sales of 200,000 units per year, with approximately 100,000 in North America. Honda is aiming for affordability with the new Insight, which is expected to sell for approximately $19,000—several thousand dollars below the Honda Civic Hybrid and Toyota Prius. At the same time, the new hybrid should match or exceed the fuel economy of those vehicles. The new Honda Insight will be unveiled at the 2008 Paris International Auto Show in early October.
The new Honda Insight will be more practical than the earlier Insight. It’s a five-door hatchback with ample room for five passengers. The aerodynamic design borrows elements from Honda’s FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle, and bears resemblance to the Toyota Prius’s iconic hatchback profile. Along with Honda’s Civic Hybrid, the new vehicle will be produced at an expanded hybrid vehicle production line at the Suzuka factory in Japan.
From HybridCars.com
Honda has cheaper hybrid in the works
Thursday, September 4th 2008, 7:41 PM
PRNewsFoto
Honda says its new Insight will cost less than any other hybrid.
Honda, the first automaker to sell gasoline-electric cars in the U.S., plans to unveil a new low-cost hybrid next month that revives the Insight name.
The 5-passenger hatchback will be shown Oct. 2 at the Paris auto show and go on sale in the U.S. next year, Honda said.
President Takeo Fukui has said the car will cost less than any hybrid, including Toyota's Prius, which starts at $21,500, and Honda's $23,550 Civic Hybrid. "This new Insight will break new ground as an affordable hybrid within the reach of customers who want great fuel economy and great value," Fukui said.
Sage Marie, a spokesman for the Tokyo-based automaker, declined to say whether its starting price would be less than $20,000.
Honda targets worldwide annual sales of 200,000 for the new hybrid, with about half of those in the U.S. That would dwarf those of the original Insight, a tiny two-door that got 70 miles per gallon of gas on the highway and debuted in the U.S. in 1999, months ahead of the Prius. Its size limited its appeal, with U.S. sales peaking at 4,726 in 2001, and it was pulled from the model line in 2006.
The automaker this year in the U.S. has sold 25,773 hybrid Civics and Accords, the latter a model it stopped building after 2007. Toyota has sold 185,051 hybrids, led by the Prius.
Separately, Honda passed Chrysler in August to grab fourth place in U.S. auto sales this year as small cars took market share from trucks.
From NyDailyNews.com
Honda Aims to 'Mainstream' Hybrids with Coming Insight
October 03, 2008
By Bill Visnic
PARIS - Honda Motor Co. Ltd. is taking the hybrid fight directly to chief rival Toyota Motor Corp. when it launches its all-new Insight hybrid-electric car in April: the Insight will be "substantially" less expensive than any other hybrid currently sold in the U.S. - including Toyota's market-dominating Prius and Honda's own Civic Hybrid.
Calling the original Insight - a quirkily styled, limited-purpose two-seater - a pioneer that introduced hybrid-electric technology to the U.S., Honda CEO Takeo Fukui said at the introduction of the near-production Insight concept at the Paris auto show that the new Insight "will also be our pioneer to take hybrid technology into a new era of affordability." The best development and sales path for hybrids, he added, is to make them affordable enough that hybrids are attainable by "mainstream customers."
The only reason Honda officials will not commit to claiming the Insight will be the cheapest hybrid on sale in the U.S.: the conservative company effectively is saying anything could happen between now and April.
But it appears all but assured the Insight will be the least-expensive hybrid money can buy. Although appearing larger than the Civic thanks to its hatchback styling, the Insight is dimensionally smaller, says a Honda source, as well as lighter - although Honda won't yet specify by how much.
Fuel economy? Somewhere close to the Civic hybrid, which currently is rated at around 40 
mpg in the city and 45 mpg on the highway. A Honda source tells AutoObserver the Insight will use a "new technology" of interaction with the driver to provide information that helps to maximize fuel-efficient driving.
The Insight's batteries are conventional nickel-metal hydride chemistry, not the more energy-dense (and more expensive) lithium-ion batteries being developed for General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Volt and plug-in hybrids that are planned to travel long distances solely on electric power.
Fukui and other Honda officials are circumspect about details, but Fukui says the Insight's latest version of Honda's Integrated Motor Assist hybrid system has been reduced in size and weight - and cost. The car remains, in effect, a "mild" hybrid in that the gasoline engine almost always runs and the car rarely travels only on electric power. Instead, the IMA components are used to boost the torque of the car's 1.3-liter 4-cylinder engine when necessary and recover some of the energy normal vehicles throw away when coasting and braking.
For now, the Insight will be built in Japan. Honda talks of 200,000 units in the first full year, with half that production earmarked for the U.S.
Fukui says at the company's press conference here that when the Insight and Civic Hybrid are joined by a production version of the sporty CR-Z hybrid concept and a coming hybrid version of the all-new Jazz subcompact Honda also unveiled here, the company will be producing some half-million hybrids annually.
Fukui said the production version of the Insight will be shown at the Detroit auto show in January.
Photos by Honda
1 - Honda CEO Takeo Fukui unveils the Honda Insight concept at the Paris motor show.
2 - Honda Insight
From autoobserver.com
